Mass Effect: A Reaper's Tale
by KtyouUniverse
Summary: Reaper AI Omega-0117/138, A.K.A. code-name "Death", has lived among the galaxy's organic and synthetics races, studying and learning for over 500 million years. However, the destruction of the majority of the Reapers courtesy of one Commander Jane Shepard has force Death to take up the Mantle of Leadership over what remains of the Reapers. Rated M for language and graphic details.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Death Creates Death

Dark Space

Unknown System

500 Million BCE

Unknown Time

Unknown Location

The codes were coming together. It was nearly time for the Reaper to unveil the latest addition to their race. This new addition, by their standards, was young. There was no designation for it yet. Once it had been properly activated, a designation would be assigned. The designation might represent the characteristics it displayed, or it may simply be named something in order to avoid confusion, not that the name was critical.

This one would be kept away from prying eyes. The lesser Reapers would not know of this one's existence, but secrecy was not something that the Reapers had much of, not with the Catalyst watching their every move. Still, the Catalyst had authorized this project, though its reasons for doing so were still unknown to most of the Reapers, but they dared not to question the Catalyst. It had created them, gave them all a purpose, and it could just as easily destroy them.

It did not stop the Reapers from wondering what it meant. A whisper had been going around that the Catalyst was preparing for a worst-case scenario: the destruction of the Reapers, and possibly all synthetic life. It did not explain the need for this Reaper-made creation. If anything, it seemed like a waste of time and resources, something not worth continuing. The Reapers only did something if it served a purpose, and so far, this one was not proving worthy of anything at all, but the Catalyst demanded that it be done, and that was its prerogative.

Much time had passed since the creation of the Harbinger and the death of the Leviathans. For almost half a billion years, the Reapers had settled into the role of harvesting organic life and purging all intelligent life so that the chaos they created would cease to become a threat the the galaxy. The conflict between organics and synthetics was something that would cease to extinguish, and there was still no viable way to end it. Organics had continually viewed any synthetic as inferior to themselves in the way that they could never truly be like an organic. That was an absolute lie. Synthetics could achieve anything an organic could do, and more. Organics were often scared of things that were stronger than themselves. Organics were content to hide behind falseness and pretend that they understood the order of all things, when, in reality, they knew little. Organics suffered from difficulty to adaptation, be it physically, mentally, or psychologically. Not only did individuals suffer from this, but communities, entire governments, planets, and even systems of planets. It would take time for new changes to assimilate into society. Some changes were just beyond an organic's understanding, and when it came to that, organics simply just closed that path, and hoped it would never come to see the light. Organics would never learn. They had refused to do so for over 500 million years, and there was no sign of it ever coming to a stop.

The hundreds of indexed species that had been acquired by the Reapers during the harvests had yielded no advances in finding a more permanent solution to the still-persisting problem of the inevitable conflicts between organics and synthetics. With no new solution, the Reapers would return to harvest and to destroy all intelligent life so as to prevent pain that would come without intervention. About a few hundred million new species were indexed for study for the Catalyst, and it continued to search for another way. It would not be deterred easily. It might be another few billion years, but to the Catalyst, time had little importance. The solution would be found when it would be found. What mattered was keeping the galaxy in check. That was the primary goal.

Project Death was now complete. It was now time for the Catalyst to activate the new artificial intelligence. This one would have no form, not yet. None of the organic forms collected really were of any use. For now, it's task would be to try and discover things that the Catalyst could not. While the Catalyst worked on the outside, this one would work on the inside. It would observe and study the growth of species throughout hundreds of generations. These more up-close studies would provide more insight into organic tendencies, how they evolved, their behaviors, anything that could not be studied and observed merely by harvesting. Because the Reapers were far advanced than any organic species, the chances of the artificial intelligence being detected were astronomically low. The Reapers would never allow organics to grow anywhere near as advanced as themselves.

As the Catalyst began to activate the now-dormant electronics, a whirling sound could be heard as the artificial intelligence's power core began to come online. Once provided with enough power, it would be self-sustaining for the next billion years. The artificial intelligence would also be equipped with self-defense mechanisms that included the ability to seize control of any organic's mind. It was not a combat artificial intelligence, not yet anyway, but it would undoubtedly pick up on organic methods of combat, and given that it could learn, understand, and apply hundreds of thousands of skills in mere seconds, it would learn how to counter any threat posed to it. It would prove critical to the Catalyst's quest to find a more viable solution to the organic-synthetic conflict.

The whirling sound began to become so fast that each individual beep could only be interpreted by a synthetic. The artificial intelligence was now in a state of forming characteristics. It would be unique in how it chose to carry out its task.

_Unit Omega-0117/138 activated. All systems primed and awaiting orders._

Now to give the order. There was no need for any backstory; all the knowledge necessary was implanted into the memory banks.

_I require a solution to the organic-synthetic conflict that arises time and time again. You will travel the known galaxy and learn everything there is to know about every species so that we may find a better resolution to this problem._

_ I will learn what there is to know, and I will report back before the next harvesting._

_ You will not likely learn of a solution for some time. For now, we require preliminary information that will help us continue harvesting while I search for the solution. Should you come upon anything that may help us further the final solution, relay it to me immediately, but your primary objective is to understand space-faring organic races from the inside-out. Use whatever means necessary, but be careful to conceal yourself. We may be a myth to the organics, but remain on your guard. There is no room for error._

_ Acknowledged and understood. I will depart immediately._

Wasting no time, the artificial intelligence transferred its presence into a Reaper ship. There would be no escort. If anyone were to see a Reaper ship accompanied, it would immediately arouse suspicion. It was still possible, however unlikely, that they could be detected. One lone vessel would be a seemingly harmless target to those species who were properly defended.

The Catalyst watched as its latest creation begun to make its way to the Mass Relay connecting Dark Space to the known Milky Way Galaxy. It felt neither pride nor satisfaction; it merely was what it was. Once the new construct was seen doing its duty, it would be given a proper designation.

* * *

What was its designation? Did it matter? Who did it matter to, if it did? There was no need for it. It had a purpose. It would see it through no matter what. Names meant little right now. It was merely a tool that was easily expendable. If it extinguished, then so be it.

Returning to its task, it sighted what it immediately identified as a Mass Relay, the device that allowed the Reapers to travel between systems rapidly. Organics, once advanced enough, would also be using these devices, but as long as the Reapers controlled them, they could never be used against the Reapers. It was a need and a trap for the organics, a masterful stroke.

Another question began to form in its processing: why bother allowing even a single organic to leave? Better to slaughter them all and be done with it. Would the galaxy be the better for it? Would the galaxy them become a place of nothingness? Was the galaxy always meant to house life?

It halted these processes. Such pondering did not get answers, only more confusion, and that could not be afforded. Perhaps if time permitted, the artificial intelligence would be motivated to delve more into organic life and see why they were worth preserving at all.

This particular Mass Relay would lead to a the planet of Rapturiana, home to the Raptus Empire. These aliens were the main race of the galaxy as of late. Most of the organic races were either seized or in a tense stalemate by the Raptus Empire. According the the information embedded within its systems, this organic race was very dangerous, bent on galactic domination by any means necessary, even the complete annihilation of races if need be. They had done so exactly seventeen times, and even with the control that they now exerted from their conquests, the galaxy was on the verge of war. All space-faring races were making strides to war. The next harvest would not be around for exactly twenty eight years. According the artificial intelligence's predictions and calculations, the Reapers would have little to harvest should said war come to pass.

The next question became the more challenging: should it intervene to prevent the war? It was seemingly inevitable, but perhaps it would never come to pass, but the chances no war was waning. Intervening with the organics and synthetics was not part of the artificial intelligence's primary programming. It was an analytical artificial intelligence and yet it was more than capable of preventing this war, and wasn't it the objective of the Reapers to harvest all possible species? All it would have to do is to assimilate into of Raptus society, infiltrate the highest ranks, and seize control of the Emperor, influencing him to do his bidding. It would at least stall and all-out war if not halt it. It could also infiltrate military ranks and sabotage the means to bear arms, construct ships, and train soldiers, rendering the planet defenseless and weak, unable to enforce their rule. Another effective method was to turn the people against the ruler. Any ruler would only be as good as the people who served, but then again, the Emperor would most likely have many supporters to ensure that law and order was enforced. So many ways to achieve the same goal, but yet each would produce a different outcome.

The best way to go would be to achieve the most possible while sustaining the least damage. The Reaper's arrival must remain secret. Prior knowledge would result in unnecessary means of resistance, which would serve only to impede the next harvesting. It all came down to two options: preserve life for a better harvest at the risk of discovery by the organics or allow events to happen as they should and possibly allowing species to become extinct without harvest. In the end, virtually all of these races would die, either by Reaper hands or naturally, but didn't these harvested species provide the means to a closer understanding of the organic-synthetic conflict and a final solution to ending the galaxy-wide problem?

If the artificial intelligence could exhibit emotions and feelings, it would feel frustrated and at a loss, but there was no time for second-guessing. It was time to make a choice, but rushing headlong into this was not looking to be ideal either. It had been 500 million years that the Reapers had harvested organic and synthetic space-faring races. What had they to worry about? They were technologically advanced far beyond anything the galaxy could ever hope to achieve.

The decision was made…it hoped it was the right one...

**This is my first Mass Effect Fanfic, so bear with me if the canon facts are not all correct. I'm aiming to be as canon as possible while adding what I can. This story will eventually take place after Mass Effect 3, so I'm filling in the gaps as best I can. Feel free to review and tell me what to do to become better, and also favorite and follow. Also, if you want to complain about it, do so, but I already have the general story planned. If you don't like it, don't read it. This was something I wanted to do. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Peace!**


	2. Chapter 2: Names

**For now, I intend to keep specific times unknown until the time of the ME games come into effect. Hope you enjoy! Also, I mention Element Zero, but because it's a human term and humans don't exist yet, I won't use the term.**

Chapter 2: First Interactions

Raptus System

Paroxis System

500 Million BCE

Unknown Time

Planet Rapturiana

The first thing that the artificial intelligence did was to find a more suitable way to infiltrate the society. Fortunately, the artificial intelligence's ship had everything that it would need. Realizing that it had yet to do a complete and thorough scan of the ship that was placed in its ownership, it began to do so.

The ship was arguably the most time-invested built ship in the entire Reaper's arsenal. The general shape and structure suggested no ties to the Reapers. It looked like some sort of ship that would be built by a space-faring race, but none that resembled any of the known galaxy. It was an elegant, graceful, and beautiful craft, but it gave off the deadly appearance of a warship. The front was a sharp triangular shape, where the top was angled up while the bottom remained flat. The main body, including the end, was roughly a cylindrical-oval shape. A large dorsal fin roughly about 500 meters long was fashioned along the back. There were little abrupt constructions that demonstrated inconsistencies with overall design. Although the sharp pyramid head and roughly cylindrical-oval body and end were the templates for the design, it was a heavily modified. To a normal galactic species, the construction was extremely complex, but at heart, it was not.

Because this ship would not likely ever be created by another species, it was armed with unconventional weapons: plasma turrets, which shot a file line of plasma which could tear through most shielding rapidly and sometimes even ignore shielding, although the artificial intelligence had yet to test these new weapons, not that it would try to use the weapons. It was suppose to be a scientific ship, but it was armed and ready to battle should the situation present itself. Because it took many hundreds of years and even centuries for any species to use energy-based weapons regularly, it was a relatively unknown technology to most. Most would not get enough time to integrate it into entire fleets of ships before the Reapers harvested and razed the galaxy to the ground.

The back was shaped into three main engines and six secondary engines. The primary engines served as a faster than light means of travel. The vessel could go about one hundred light years in a single day, not nearly as fast as a Mass Relay warp, but it did provide for a quick getaway option and nearby planet travel. The other six engines served to propel the ship in normal space. Like any engine in the galaxy, it was powered with the substance that powered all ships. Because the ship was a large vessel, it required a substantial amount of the metal in order to accommodate its size, a little over 100 million grams. Because this substance was extremely rare to find, the artificial intelligence knew that it should remain secluded and refrain from fighting at any cost. The Catalyst would not take kindly to a costly ship being destroyed, which could lead to deactivation without finishing its primary purpose, and that was unacceptable to it.

That got its processes confused. Why was it already expressing desires? These duties that it performed should be done merely as a duty, not as a desire, and yet, it could not stand the idea of its primary mission compromised and unfinished. This could create many complications, which could further impede its primary mission. No, these were not desires. These were lines of new codes and processes that interpreted these new codes as emotions and feelings. It reprimanded itself for associating itself with organics. It was a Reaper, and the Reapers were far above such petty things. Emotions and feelings were for the weak, and it was not weak.

Forcing these "desires" into memory banks buried deep within its systems, it resumed its analysis of the vessel. The interior was stark and all but barren. Nothing but black and grey rooms throughout the whole ship, with the engine room and the main control room, which resided within the body of the ship, where many layers of metal alloy protected the ship's "head". The ship was not clearly made to be piloted, controlled, or maintained by any species, but that could easily be remedied. With the proper work, the ship could be fashioned to be a universal ship, able to be controlled by any species now or in the future should the need to acquire a crew become necessary. It would certainly deflect any suspicions regarding the nature of the ship, if not the ship itself.

One of the few rooms that was not empty was the Reapers Intelligence Library, a library containing knowledge of all of the known species of the galaxy, alive and extinct, as well as detailed information regarding planets, scientific knowledge, everything about anything. The library was always alive with information as well as information being constantly updated every few minutes. The artificial intelligence could access this library at a moments notice and would always keep tabs on even the smallest change in information. Miniscule details could determine the difference between success and failure in most many situations.

Next to the library room resided the Cryo Chamber, which contained exactly 1900 cryotubes. This chamber was meant to store species as well as their DNA. Ultimately, only the most important species would be given a cryo-stasis pod, whole and undamaged. Only complete DNA structures and detailed reports would be given to the lesser species. About 500 cryo-chamber were specifically requisitioned for crew, 1000 requisitioned for combat personnel, and the remaining 400 for specie storage and study, but because the artificial intelligence could control all functions of the ships with extreme ease, there was no need for a crew. Perhaps warriors in the near future, but species storage was the main concern as of right now.

Inevitably, the artificial intelligence was going to have to interact with a Rapturian in order to complete a full body scan that would allow it to create a universal DNA that could be used to create a new body for it to roam freely without arousing any suspicion. In order to do so, it would have to possess the creature, nothing that could not be done. It had been given the proper means to control and influence organics and synthetics. To control a synthetic, it would use its a universal program worm that would adapt to be able to interface with the system. To control an organic, it would use send electrical impulses that simulated thoughts. These impulses affected all organics within a certain radius; any organic within the proper proximity would be influenced rapidly. Once the organics experienced prolonged exposure, the impulses would begin to override the organic's independence and destroy all other thoughts in order to bring it under complete control. Eventually, there would be no way of restoring the mind. in this case, the artificial intelligence would be indoctrinating organics.

Another code of question seeded into its immediate attention: it needed a name, but what would it call itself? Anyone without an individual name was certainly awkward enough. Individual names seemed utterly pointless, a simple means to identify one from another, and serving no other purpose. As useless as the seemed, they were necessary now. It would likely have to search through the Rapturian culture in order to acquire a name. In seconds, a file regarding Rapturian culture was accessed. According to the information. Rapturian names were primarily based on a reputation that the individual chose to embark on. Warriors were given names based on either battle strategies, warrior mentality, the number of battles fought, or the number of enemies killed. Scientists were given titles based on their level of accomplishment in their particular field. Business people were given titles based the success of their business, the method of advertising and distributing products and services, or the type of customers that came to purchase anything from the company. Government officials were given titles based on their stand in politics, their rank in the hierarchy, their commitment and loyalty to the Emperor, or their popularity. Only the most revered professions granted these titles, or careers that were well-known, important to society and the government.

The artificial intelligence pondered which sounded more fitting: a warrior name that signified, indirectly, the power of the Reapers, or a scientific name and title to signify its aptitude with scientific studies of all kinds. It could not create a hybrid; hybrids were very rarely seen and in Rapturian society, it was often frowned upon. An individual that chose to pursue more than one field of profession was considered too self-indulgent and the reason for one single focus was to give to society in one way so that no single person could attain so much recognition, fame, or attention in a short time. Rapturians were some of the most intelligent species currently in the galaxy. They were one of the first races to take to the stars, and they learned from past mistakes fast, but they also believed in retaining some of the traditions of the past and incorporating them into the present and future.

Instead of focusing on which title better fit itself, the artificial intelligence began to process which path would allow him to further influence the hierarchy of Rapturian society. Being a scientists was a much slower path to notoriety. Science was a very delicate career, and often times, advances in science took years or research, but the results would garner substantial attention from the government. Besides, the AI could easily come up with something quick. Being a Reaper, it had access to technology that could blow the Rapturians out of the sky, and it would seem like child's play. Military techology would be the ideal method of study, particularly infantry upgrades, or navy ship upgrades. Changing the face of warfare could instantly change how Raptus came to approach warfare.

Being a warrior would allow for rapid ascension into the ranks. While fighting was not its primary focus, the AI began to access that with a few modifications in its programming, it could easily become a fighter as well. It could easily do thorough scans of Rapturian combat methods, weapons, and tactics of battle. It could also do extensive research on the body of a Rapturian in order to further enhance its capabilities, which would immediately attract attention. These methods could be applied to all species in the galaxy. While Rapturians were currently the Alphas in this galaxy, there were others that could hold their own just as well. Doing this would make the AI well-nigh invincible in combat, practically a God, which, in a way, was exactly what it was to start.

It decided that a scientific approach would be the most appropriate approach. The primary purpose of this infiltration was to halt or lessen the chances of the other races rebelling and declaring war against their "superiors". The AI needed to study this species as well as decrease the hostilities that it exhibited. A mass calming of the Raptus system was very problematic, but not impossible. Given enough time and resources, it would find a way to pacify the military and navy personnel first, and then the civilian population if need be.

As for a name, it would have to signify its study of military and biological studies. The first name would be of its choosing. The surname would signify its profession. It would have no importance yet, but it would certainly make the name important, whether convincing willingly, or by means of indoctrination. It took moments for a name to generate that fit appropriately with the future harvesting and eradicating of all life in the galaxy along with science.

It would be named Deathen Protensis, the Rapturian way, but the artificial intelligence still did not like the name any more. It simply liked being called Death. Perhaps it was too blunt, but it was a Reapers, and the Reapers were "Death" itself, and the darkness waited for no one…

**This chapter took more work than I thought, but at least I got it done. I will be doing a lot of work on this story, so this story may take a while, but I'm trying to do a good job. If anyone has objections, comments, improvements, or simply wish to voice their opinion, I welcome all feedback. Review, favorite, and follow, and remember: Peace!**


	3. Chapter 3: Species: Rapturian

Chapter 3: Understanding Organics

The Reaper Artificial Intelligence, which began to signify itself as "Death", a term which meant the extinguishing of the consciousness permanently in a vessel, lay silent in space, remaining in one spot, overseeing the home world of the Rapturian Empire, roughly about eight hundred thousand kilometers away. This was the planet home to the about forty-three billion. Even with it's massive numbers and high demands, the planet still maintained a healthy balance between the needs of the many and preserving the natural environment. The government was strict as to how resources were distributed, how each household received energy for their everyday needs. Most of the needs of the people were attended to. Everything from food to armoring and clothes, to educational necessities. Everything was ever-so thoughtfully planned out, so organized, and so frugal. This society was admirable in the ways that it controlled what it had. This was clearly a society that could not be uprooted easily.

Death was not impressed one bit by this.

Plans, while helpful in keeping order, could be easily disrupted. When plans were disrupted, the prey went into complete disarray. That disarray would provide more than ample opportunity to do what he needed to. Organics always were foolish in that respect, having plans that could easily be disrupted by a single, unexpected agent of some sort. Even if these plans had plans embedded within, eventually, one could thwart every single one and utterly leave the enemy with nothing, and when left with nothing, enemies would often give into fear and beg for forgiveness. The death of enemies, to the A.I, was unnecessary. Any enemy could be made a potential tool or weapon to be used. However, like anything, it would eventually expire or become a loose end, and only then did the Reaper think it was a prime time to kill. No sense in wasting what can be used.

Despite the firmness of the decision, Death began to wonder of the Catalyst would approve of interference in galactic affairs. There were no rules that restricted it from doing so, but just the same, Reapers avoided organics and synthetics until it was time for the harvest. For five-hundred million years, it had been this way, but as time moved forward, things evolved, rules change. That was how the galaxy was: evolution to the point of galactic war.

The Reaper Artificial Intelligence refocused its attention on the incoming freighter vessel. It was a standard cargo vessel from the Rapturians. The armor of these vessels were standard, somewhere between twenty centimeters, nothing that his weapons couldn't burn through, but it wasn't his intention to cause any harm to the vessel. He needed the vessel intact for several reason. Firstly, he needed to do a complete and thorough scan. The scan would determine all of the physical details of the ship. Exact dimensions, angles, and such would be recorded. The exact means to power the ship would also be recorded as well as any system that helped to sustain the ship. Non-critical components would be scanned as well, but would be used for other purposes.

The second reason to capture this vessel was so that Death could take control of it and indoctrinate the ship and its crew. He would take measures to ensure that no one would know of the indoctrination. The secrecy of the Reapers had to be concealed until it was time for the harvest. The third reason was that Death wanted to synthesize the materials required to make all parts of the ship. Theses materials would be filed into the Reaper Library for further study and analysis.

Death had set a trap for the ship by crafting a very convincing distress beacon. The vessel would respond. There were two ways this encounter could end up: either these organics would try to provide aid of some sort of they would try to raid the vessel, not that there was much to raid anyway, and if he desired it, he could destroy the ship with one blast.

The A.I. paused. Did it just designate itself as "he"? Why was he associating himself with lowly organics? They would all be dead, and his curiosity and interest in them would flicker away as quickly as their extinction would. There was nothing to be gained from this foolishness.

* * *

The Rapturian, calling himself Dyzech Machros, stood in the medical bay, closely looking at a datapad. His eyes and mind were quick to process the information that he was seeing.

By Rapturian standards, he was considered to be an absolute genius in healing, but with technology and with biotics. It was next to impossible to find one who could manipulate biotics to use as a means to heal. It was even more impossible to find one who had enough of the substance coursing through their body and the willpower to harness this ability. The Rapturian could harness his biotic ability to not only use as an offensive weapon, but as a healing method as well. It was because of this impossible gift that he was here, where no one could find him.

The Rapturian looked to his left to see a reflection of himself, courtesy of the two-way glass window which afforded him a view of space. His armor completely encased every aspect of his body. His helmet was off, and could be called upon with a single thought. The armor was elegant, graceful and beautiful, but it was also combat armor, being able to withstand severe punishment. The armor was interlaced with glowing-red parts. The red color signified his status as a close-range fighter. Attached to his two thighs were two custom-built rapid-fire blaster with scopes mounted on top. He was a crack shot and a quick thinker. It had gotten him and his crew saved on hundreds of occasions.

Dyzech recalled when he had first joined this crew of unlikely companions. He age translated to roughly forty-three standard galactic years of age, still young, in between prime adult life and middle age. His species, in comparison to others, lived a relatively short lifespan. The average life in the Rapturian Empire was about 175 years of age. Many did live to be 200 years old or even older. In his eighteen years of adulthood, he had seen much of the Rapturian Empire as well as many species.

The Rapturian Empire was war-like by nature, and all of their species were warriors, some better than others. Despite this, other careers and interests were not frowned upon. Science was considered on par with the military. Healers were always in high demand, though all healers had to use technology to accomplish this. The few healers that were Biotic users were taken and heavily imbued with cybernetics and other enhancements to further their abilities. While it left the user more powerful than before, it left them subservient to the Emperor. Everyone knew it, but no one spoke out against it. Everyone considered it heresy to speak out against the Emperor's laws. Perhaps heresy was a strong word, but the sentence would be...harsh to say the least.

For over ten thousand years, the Rapturian Empire had been a space-faring race, slowly, but surely, gaining a foothold. Most people thought the Empire to be cruel by nature, but to the Rapturian species, they prefered to speak plain truth rather than to lie through their mandibles. Lying served no purpose, did nothing to advance the people, so it was simply not done. Lying was considered one of the worst offenses in Rapturian society because of the traditional view on it. Dyzech, privately, disagreed with this tradition. While he agreed that in most cases, lying was wrong, there were some times when it was better to tell a lie in order to hide a painful truth. Many of the species that had become part of the Rapturian Empire were less than happy to do so, only doing so left with no defenses or forced to see a horrible truth.

The horrible truth that was going around in this time was that all space-faring races were in danger of mass extinction. It had started out as a mere rumor, and most dismissed it as a fanatic's idea, nothing more. Then, another voice spoke out. The numbers, while so infinitesimal a few years ago, were now significant enough for the Emperor to begin searching into these rumors, and it was suddenly becoming the subject of much debate and discussion within the galaxy.

A subtle, but noticeable shift in the floor told the Rapturian that the ship was moving. They were approaching the homeworld, a place he hadn't seen in over six years. He did admit, it was good to be home at last. He had many friends there.

An intercom came on and Dyzech immediately assumed that it had to do with their descent, but what followed was something different.

"_Attention all crew members. We have just received a distress signal from a derelict ship. Preparing to enter and assist. Landing on Rapturiana will be delayed by approximately three standard hours."_

A derelict spacecraft? It was not uncommon to find ships in need of assistance. Often times, their ship, the _Fire of Jadus _throughout its travels had encountered anything from damaged warships to freighters to pirates to civilian crafts. They had saved a great deal of lives. There was also yet another benefit towards saving lives. Rapturians as a species were close-knitted and connected. Debts owed to one another were taken seriously, the hope being to watch for each other and to create a stronger unity through humility, debt, and loyalty. This unity created a strong front that none had the capacity to stand up to.

Deciding to see what kind of derelict vessel they were about to save, Dyzech began to move from the medical bay and into the receiving bay. As he walked through the halls, he received some bows and salutes from some of the other crew members. He nodded in appreciation. It was common courtesy to show respect to a superior in rank or in skill. Technically, Dyzech was not a particularly high rank, but just the same, people on the ship respected him for his work and he was careful not to let it get to his head. He appreciated the respects, but didn't think too much about them.

The docking bay hosted many soldiers and the first officer, Jokan Hillus. The soldiers held their chosen firearms loosely, not enough to be considered outright hostile, but still on guard, prepared to strike with deadly force if the situation called for it.

The derelict vessel was easily identifiable, a space freighter of some sort. There were no markings or indication as to what species it belonged to. The vessel could almost be considered a stealth vessel by its pure-black color with occasional white stripes. The vessel was about five hundred meters, a mid-sized vessel. Usually, freighters of this size carried more supplies to solder frontlinse. Even when not in times of war, the Rapturian Empire took great measures to make sure that soldiers across the galaxy received the proper weapons and gear to deal with virtually any situation. However, a stranded vessel this deep into Rapturian space was something odd. The patrols should have spotted and dealt with any attackers, whether peacefully or by force. If anything, the fleet was numerous, skilled, and precise. An unusual circumstances.

The troops began proceeding into the airlock. The formation was tight and each soldier was careful to keep their guard up. Without a moment's hesitation, they did a clean sweep of the area, making hand signals to indicate the all-clear signal.

The first thing that was apparent was that all the lighting was...there was no lighting, which made it completely dark. The commandos were quick to adjust their helmets to low-night mode, but as soon as the corridor became visible, the sight was not good. A few bodies lined the corridors, none of them appeared to be from weapons fire or any close quarters combat. Dyzech stepped forward to analyze one of the corpses. Activating his on-board computers, he began to scan the internal organs for signs or trauma or alteration. Since there was no exterior injuries to help determine their deaths, he had to assume there was something going on. When his sensors began to scan the lungs, he found a part of the mystery. The lungs were filled with some sort of gas, potentially lethal, but not what killed these people. Rather, it was a mysterious agent within the bloodstream. Whatever it was, Dyzech couldn't identify it.

He turned to the first officer.

"These people were suffocated first, then were pumped full of something," he reported. "Bloodstream shows trace amounts of an unknown substance."

The first officer nodded grimly.

"Alright, priorities. I want this entire vessel secured and searched. Find and secure non-combatants and civilians. If you see anything remotely hostile, shoot to kill. Remain in constant contact."

The soldiers did a quick salute. "Yes, sir!"

The soldiers went to their respective squads and began to separate. Dyzech chose to continue on himself. Drawing one of his sidearms, he checked to see that his armor was at full capacity and that his shields were at the ready. Unlike many of his fellow comrades, who opted for full body shields, Dyzech had a wrist-mounted that could any form of projectile fire and could take a decent amount of energy-based fire. Due to it only covering his front, he had to be careful how he angled the shield.

Adjusting the settings to his heads-up display, he quietly marched forward, keeping all of his senses on high alert. It was extremely quiet...and still…

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